Hamas, Fatah sign deal on Palestinian reconciliation

BINTANGNEWS.com –Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and
Fatah signed an agreement Thursday on ending a decade-long split following
talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, with

president Mahmud Abbas calling it a
"final" accord.

Under the agreement, the West
Bank-based Palestinian Authority is to resume full control of the
Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by December 1, according to a statement from
Egypt's government.

Abbas welcomed the deal in comments to
AFP and said he considered it a "final agreement to end the division"
-- though many details remain to be resolved and previous reconciliation
attempts have repeatedly failed.

It was signed in Cairo by new Hamas
deputy leader Salah al-Aruri and Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Fatah
delegation for the talks, at the headquarters of Egypt's intelligence service,
which oversaw the negotiations.

Celebrations broke out in the Gaza
Strip after the announcement of the deal, with residents waving flags of Egypt,
Palestine, Fatah and Hamas.

Negotiations are now expected to be
held on forming a unity government, with the various Palestinian political
movements invited to another meeting in Cairo on November 21.

Another party to the negotiations,
speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agreement would see Palestinian
Authority forces take control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and
Egypt.

One of the key issues has been
punitive measures taken by Abbas against Gaza in recent months, including
reducing electricity payments that left the territory's residents with only a
few hours of power a day.

"All the measures taken recently
will end very shortly," Zakaria al-Agha, a senior Fatah leader in the Gaza
Strip, told AFP.

Sanctions taken by Abbas against
Hamas-controlled Gaza will also soon be lifted, the Fatah official said.

The deal includes 3,000 members of the
West Bank-based Palestinian Authority's police force redeploying to Gaza, a
member of the negotiating team told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The figure is however a fraction of
the more than 20,000 police officers employed separately by Hamas.***